Representatives of the jewellery industry have been told that palladium is a metal that should be considered as desirable in its own right.

At least 500 delegates heard speakers describe palladium as a high quality material on a par with platinum, during a seminar laid on by the Palladium Alliance International at the Las Vegas Jewelry Show.

Panellists discussing the metal described it as 95 per cent pure and easy to work with, according to National Jeweler.

"It's definitely not a replacement for white gold and it's definitely not a replacement for platinum, but it is a new metal," said Stewart Grice, mill and refining director at Hoover & Strong.

Designer Scott Kay insisted that palladium should not be regarded as a cheap replacement or alternative to other metals, but a desirable metal in its own right. "This word 'alternative' drives me nuts," he said.

One delegate said that he thought palladium users would have to create an education process about the metal in order to avoid confusion among customers.

Chuck Lein of Stuller observed: "That's going to be one of the challenges, but we're going to seek to understand.

"I think the industry is going through the same evolutionary process that platinum went through 15 years ago."

Ÿ Adfero Ltd